The Africa Project Part 3 guinea Bissau - Mauritius

The Africa Project Part 3 guinea Bissau - Mauritius

The Africa Project Part 1: Algeria- Congo Brazzaville The Africa Project Part 2: Congo Kinshasa – Ghana The Africa Project Part 3: Guinea Bissau – Mauritus The Africa Project Part 4: Morocco – Sao Tome and Princpe The Africa Project Part 5: Senegal – Sudan The Africa Project Part 6: Swaziland – Zimbabwe
GUINEA BISSAU Quick Overview
To talk about a film industry in Guinea-Bissau is still an exaggeration. In a country with no cinemas and a film institute that due to a total lack of money is practically lifeless, the picture is depressing to say the least. However, the zeal of two Guinean directors, Flora Gomes and Sana Na N’Hada, has achieved…
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GUINEA BISSAUQuick Overview
To talk about a film industry in Guinea-Bissau is still an exaggeration. In a country with no cinemas and a film institute that due to a total lack of money is practically lifeless, the picture is depressing to say the least. However, the zeal of two Guinean directors, Flora Gomes and Sana Na N’Hada, has achieved something that many considered impossible. And not just that they have managed to make films: their works are well received by critics and have been awarded prizes in international competitions around the world.

GUINEAQuick Overview
Guinean cinema-one of the earliest to develop in Africa south of the Sahara-seemed to have a bright future, but the country’s isolation from the rest of the world under the dark days of the sekou Toure regime killed the fledgling industry. The govemment straightjacketed directors, which was another factor in the demise of Guinean film. They were only allowed to make propaganda movies, dampening their creativity and deterring foreign investors. Today there are some promising directors such as Gahite Fofana and Cheick Fantamady Camara and while Guinea runs way behind other West African countries, there appears to be a revival in its fortunes.

IVORY COASTQuick Overview
Côte d’Ivoire was one of the first African countries to embark on the path towards a national cinema. Today the country is one of the major film producers in Francophone West Africa, ranking with Senegal and Burkina Faso. Leading directors such as Henri Duparc and Roger Gnoan Mbala have helped shape this country’s industry and Cote d’Ivoire film has become reknowned for its gentle biting comedy.

KENYA
Kenya is situated in of the most violent aera’s in the world, East Africa. The country is poor, government priorities are not focussed on building a local film industry. Since independence in 1963 Kenyans have been producing films at the average rate of one feature film every four years. Despite the fact that there are many Kenyan film professionals, the development of this industry is hampered by problems such as piracy, lack of finance and poor post production facilities. There are a number of new exciting filmmakers working in Kenya and production has increased rapidly in the last few years. Women directors have been particualrly successful here such as Wanuri Kahiu, Hawa Essusman, Judy Kibinge and Jane Munene. Kenya is a certianly a new exciting addition to the leading African cinema nations.

LESOTHOQuick Overview
Lesotho has no recorded cinematic history until recently. Allthough some foreign filmmakers have made documentaries subjecting the country, no local film has been produced until recently. There are very few film-producing companies and filmmakers in the country. There is a significant amount of video production with at least two video editing facilities in Maseru. Lesotho is crippled by poverty and has one of the largest HIV populations in Africa. This small landlocked mountainous country controlled by a egomanic King is currently on the brink of economic ruin and any hope of cinematic development seems many years away.

LIBERIAQuick Overview
Devastated by ongoing wars Liberia until recently was one of the most violent countries in the world today. The full feature movie “Tomorrow Never Dies” (2001) was produced in Liberia presenting Liberian actors and actresses. The film met with some success in Nigerian screenings. Allthough the government stresses the importance of a local film and video industry in Liberia, actual funding remains a faint dream.

LIBYABrief Overview
Libya’s cinematic history is rather sparse. In the 1970’s Colonel Gadaffi’s regime partially sponsered Moustapha Akkad’s Islamic religious epics such as the Message. After these films Gadaffi has taken very little interest in cinema and maintained tight control over all media in his country for the next few decades. In 2011 Libyan rebels with help from NATO toppled the regime. A new chapter begins in Libya’s history and maybe in the next decade we may see a new cinema emerging from this North African country.

MADAGASCARQuick Overview
The fall of the Communists liberalized the Malagasy cinematic landscape, nevertheless the political uncertainty in the following years prevented a structural film industry to develop. Finally in 1998 some legaslation was enacted reviving local production and opening the long lost movie theaters. Due to the rapid distribution of TV and video the theaters were all closed in 1980. The nineties are considered the new dawn of Malagasy audi and visual production. In 2003 over 200 radio stations air their music, news and opinions. Video and TV take their part of the public’s leisure budget as does the local tourist industry. There are a number of high profile Malagasy filmmakers working today and directors such as Alexander Abela have taken an interest in the island. While the cinema is small a handful of films (most short) every year make it to international festivals.

MALAWIQuick Overview
Malawi has no recorded cinematic or even video producing history until very recently. There are no major local film-producing companies. In the forties and fifties the British government used films to educate peasants to grow tobacco. UNESCO has contributed to the use of Mobile Video Units (land rovers) mainly for health eductional purposes. 15% of the adult population is HIV infected. Charles Shymu Joyah made Malawi’s first feature film in 2008 with great success on the African video market. One hopes this can be a springboard for further cinematic endeavers from this small East African country.

MALIBrief Overview
Mali has a fairly strong and consistent filmmaking tradition. Most noteworthy scenario writes derive their scripts from the local storytellers (griots) stories, an old tradition . The country became independent in 1960 and after the usual turmoil in the first few years, cinema began to develop. From the late sixties until the mid seventies, cinema consisted primarly of documentary shorts films, mainly newsreels covering official events like the visit of international leaders or the opening of a factory. Souleymane Cisse is Mali’s leading filmmaker and has gained an international reputation for his short but highly acclaimed filmography. Manthia Diawara, Abdoulaye Ascofare, and Cheik Omar Sissoko are some other Malian directors of note.

MAURITANIASelect Overview
There is no Mauritanian national cinema as such, but a number of Mauritanians such as Med Hondo and Abderrahmane Sissako are actively involved with cinema, working largely from exile in Europe and elsewhere in Africa. Med Hondo is a respected actor and also is the recognisible voice of many French dubbed films. He is best known as the voice for Eddie Murphy. It remains to be seen what happens after this generation of filmmakers has passed as little new work by filmmakers is being produced.

MAURITIUSQuick Overview
Hardly any information is available on Mauritian cinema. In 1987 the Mauritius Film Development Corporation was established to boost a Mauritian film industry. Locally very few films had been recorded up to the last century. The MDFC has funded some cinema’s to satisfy cinemagoers, some 17 theatres are now screening mostly American and Hindu productions. Initiatives were taken to set up a local Audio Visual Training Centre to promote local filmmaking and a Film Industry Development Fund was started which in recent years has increased the number of films being produced. Young filmmakers are beginning to break through and feature in international festivals. Mauritius has recently been encouraging Bollywood films to film on the island due to the close proximity and the amazing landcsapes.